Archive for the ‘Tenth Amendment Center’ Category

BTC – Right now, several circumstances simultaneously exist over the legal approach to Real ID. In US States, both federal incrementalism and State nullification are at work.

According to earlier reports, Real ID is being slowly allowed by State wheels of concession to incorporate federal benchmark compliance. The DHS quietly defunded the federal program in March. The Center for Immigration Studies followed up this action by publishing a statement, citing 41 States are moving ahead with material compliance. On the same day, more headlines popped up about Maine seeking to repeal State requirements adherent to the Real ID Act.

THE CHALLENGING WORK OF NULLIFICATION

Last month, Shelli Dawdy, a Nebraska Tea Party blogger blasted the State practice of nullification. Her beef is not towards States for opting out of drivers license standards, but for muddling State and federal jurisdictional boundaries.

“Nullification rationalizes that individual states or, apparently, individuals may rightfully determine on their own that a law is unconstitutional.”

And..

“The implication I am making is clear – elected officials who pledged nullification as a solution to the REAL ID implementation problem were ultimately fooling themselves and others or they were knowingly doing so for political gain.”

The messages here are indeed mixed. The divided nature of Republicans’ approach to federal immigration enforcement has deliberately and strategically increased dust-ups and conflicts holding Real ID in place. Some Republican lawmakers associated with the Tea Party have been supportive of an aggressive increase in States ability to enforce their own immigration policies. For example, Utah lawmaker, Rep. Sandstrom, rejected the implementation of Real ID license standards. Shortly afterward he became the legal force sponsoring a bill akin to SB 1070, permitting State police to enforce federal immigration law.

States’ invocation of the Tenth Amendment would kick immigration and border enforcement towards federal decision makers. Immigration and foreign affairs are not powers reserved to the States. It is unconstitutional for States to enforce federal borders.

Nullification supporters have argued federal legislation may not be required to do away the Real ID Act if States will simply continue efforts to reject the law.

“When the legislative branch passes a law which is in conflict with a federal law, that branch of government is acting to nullify the federal law. There are numerous examples of this form of nullification, including state medical marijuana laws, Real ID non-compliance measures and firearm freedom acts. Legislative measures of this sort are more effective when they are also supported by the actions of the executive branch and the decisions of the courts. As we see in California, where LAPD and LA County Sheriff department members joined federal officials on a recent raid of a medical marijuana dispensary, the other branches of state government do not always collaborate.”

Those calling for the federal repeal of Real ID’s identity, border and immigration tenets have found themselves indirectly supported by Tenth Amendment Center’s policy, as State rejection strengthens the argument by numbers. States efforts to constrict federal requirements on local identity articles have lead to the re-evaluation of the Real ID Act. Nationalized identity has historically enabled government to flag residents for racial profiling and even genocide. Landmine elements of agitated nationalism and racism latently surround the Real ID Act. This scoots US citizenship into convenient primordial target territory for political low lifes.

IMMIGRATION: AMERICA’S CIVIL HURT LOCKER

Periods of economic duress have been used by political factions to manipulate otherwise tolerant citizens into angry competition for survival with ethnic groups and immigrants. WWII Germany is THE case study proved disastrous where economically repressed elements of society, combined with racism and nationalism, were used to incite civil upheaval and to instill barbaric leadership.

For more information to start your own local group to stop Real ID,
visit 511Campaign.org . The 5-11 Campaign helps the individual
connect with local organizers who oppose the U.S. plan for a national
identity. For more information visit: 511Campaign.org or
contact : 511@511Campaign.org

REAL ID continues its long, slow failure. The federal government’s national ID plans continue to bash against the shoals of state and popular opposition.

Late last month, the governor of Utah signedH.B. 234into law. The bill prohibits the Utah driver license division from implementing REAL ID. That brings to 25 the number of states rejecting the national ID law,according to the Tenth Amendment Center.

And the State of Nevada, one of the few states that had been working to get in front of REAL ID, is reconsidering. With wait times at Las Vegas DMVs reaching two to four hours, the legislature may soon allow a temporary REAL ID implementation measure signed last year to lapse—thisaccording to the Ely (NV) News.

That doesn’t mean national ID supporters in Congress won’t try to sneak the REAL ID revival bill into law sometime later this year, of course . .

BTC – I encourage subscribers and visitors to please check our national ID wire on the side bar of our page. You can usually catch Jim Harper’s column as early as he posts it. We don’t post-re-post everything because of the wire. However, you can always tell us what you want to see more of [at] beatthechip@gmail.com.

For more information to start your own local group to stop Real ID,
visit 511Campaign.org . The 5-11 Campaign helps the individual
connect with local organizers who oppose the U.S. plan for a national
identity. For more information visit: 511Campaign.org or
contact : 511@511Campaign.org

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Proponents of the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution have been starting to rise up en masse to remind the national government of its proper constitutional role under the principles of federalism. This loose network of activists, widely referred to as the state sovereignty movement or Tenth Amendment movement, were given the derisive nickname “tenthers” by detractors, but in a witty reversal, they gladly adopted the label. The Tenth Amendment Center, the major hub online for state sovereignty activism, has even renamed its blog, “the tenther grapevine.”

Typically, the response by some of the biggest names in the news media has been to actively disparage anyone who strictly adheres to the original understanding of the U.S. Constitution. David Shuster of MSNBC proclaimed that most “people in their right-thinking mind know that the Tenth Amendment is a bunch of baloney.”

The Chief Illustration of Nullification in Action

The REAL ID Act: REAL ID was passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by then-President George W. Bush in 2005, and the resistance to it illustrates a likely scenario for state nullification. More than two dozen states have passed laws or resolutions denouncing the act or refusing to comply with it. Have the feds responded by sending in federal agents with their guns blazing? Absolutely not! Instead, the feds were all too quick to chicken out and postpone enactment of the law.

Michael Boldin, founder of the influential Tenth Amendment Center, writes, “Another indicator of victory for state-level nullification — the 2005 Real ID act was originally to be implemented in early 2008, and today, it’s still in limbo. Going on 2 years later, with more than two dozen states passing laws and resolutions denouncing or flat-out refusing to comply — and D.C. has no choice but to continue backing off…. Why? With such massive resistance among the states, the Feds just have no way to enforce it.”

REAL ID seems to have just been the start. As the nullification cat is out of the bag, states all across the nation are attempting to nullify federal laws covering such disparate topics as healthcare and firearms.

For more information to start your own local group to stop Real ID,
visit 511Campaign.org . The 5-11 Campaign helps the individual
connect with local organizers who oppose the U.S. plan for a national
identity. For more information visit: 511Campaign.org or
contact : 511@511Campaign.org

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — With tax collections tanking and jobless rates at record highs, state legislators hundreds of miles from Washington have found an easy way to appeal to conservative voters: Bash the federal government.

Lawmakers in 44 states have introduced measures warning Congress not to trample states’ rights and dozens of other resolutions opposing the government on issues including gun control and health care.

Their efforts play to people angry with the status quo. A recent Pew Research Center poll found high anti-incumbent sentiment among voters ahead of the November congressional elections.

“The closer you are to elections, you see legislators with more backbone,” said Michael Boldin of the California-based Tenth Amendment Center, a nonpartisan think tank named for the constitutional amendment that specifies any power not granted to the federal government is reserved for the states. “I’m sure there’s a lot of grandstanding.”

No states are likely to secede from the union, but they could derail or delay federal legislation the way they have by balking at a national identification program billed as a way to fight terrorism and identity theft. Most states still aren’t complying with the Real ID law passed in 2005.

In conservative South Carolina, Republican House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham said his caucus made standing up to the federal government a top priority this year.

“I hear it at church, at the barber shop: ‘You guys need to stand up.’ The issue of federal intrusion is a John Doe issue,” he said. “This is a yes-point for us. They’re mad. They’re upset. They expect us to respond.”

That response included passing a resolution to assert the state’s rights under several constitutional amendments. It says South Carolina’s attorney general will sue if Congress passes mandates the state deems unconstitutional, and that no state agency will follow them while a decision is pending.

“To say public reaction and being vocal doesn’t have any influence is ludicrous,” Bingham said. “That’s how you enact change in a civilized society.” :::MORE HERE:::

For more information to start your own local group to stop Real ID,
visit 511Campaign.org . The 5-11 Campaign helps the individual
connect with local organizers who oppose the U.S. plan for a national
identity. For more information visit: 511Campaign.org or
contact : 511@511Campaign.org

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LOS ANGELES — In 2009, seven states passed sovereignty resolutions under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Two states passed laws nullifying some federal firearms laws and regulations. States with Medical Marijuana laws in direct opposition to federal laws reached thirteen. In 2010, some expect the ante to be raised significantly.

“Already, over a dozen states are considering laws or state constitutional amendments that would effectively ban, or nullify, any proposed national health care plan in their state, and we expect that number to reach at least twenty in 2010,” said Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth Amendment Center.

“In conjunction with 20+ [24] states that have already said “No” to the Bush-era Real ID act, another dozen or more considering state laws to nullify federal gun laws, and the steady growth of states refusing to comply with federal marijuana laws, some might consider what we see today to be an unprecedented state-level rebellion to the federal government.”

The principle behind such legislation is nullification, which has a long history in the American tradition. When a state nullifies a federal law, it is proclaiming that the law in question is void and inoperative, or non-effective, within the boundaries of that state; or, in other words, not a law as far as the state is concerned.

“Nullification has been used to stand up for free speech, resist the fugitive slave laws, reduce tariffs and more. It’s a peaceful and effective way to resist the federal government, and might be our only hope for moving towards the constitution. Legislators drawing this kind of line in the stand should be commended,” said Boldin.

Grassroots activists around the country are looking to the Tenth Amendment and nullification to bolster their efforts too. Tenth Amendment rallies are planned in at least 10 states before the end of January, including Virginia, Washington, Alabama and Texas. “These aren’t tea party protests, or tax protests, or any of the other topics that were popular last year,” said Boldin. “These are rallies solely in support of the 10th Amendment, State Sovereignty or Nullification – something that indicates a major shift from the grassroots, and shows potential for the growth of a popular mass movement in support of the Tenth.”

A recent article in the New York Times included “Tenther” as a top buzzword for 2009. In response, Boldin said, “With people looking to resist D.C. through state laws on everything from national health care to medical marijuana, the 10th Amendment appears ready to be front and center in the national debate once again this year.”

About the Tenth Amendment Center: The Tenth Amendment Center, a Los Angeles-based think tank founded in 2006, acts as an educational forum on issues related to the 10th Amendment and Constitutional governance.

For more information to start your own local group to stop Real ID,
visit 511Campaign.org . The 5-11 Campaign helps the individual
connect with local organizers who oppose the U.S. plan for a national
identity. For more information visit: 511Campaign.org or
contact : 511@511Campaign.org

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Nullification has a long and rich history, beginning in 1798 with resolutions in Virginia and Kentucky passed to protest the original Alien and Sedition Acts, according to the Tenth Amendment Center. Arguably, States have taken effective nullification action as recently as this decade, when multiple States passed their own legislation expressly forbidding their respective Divisions of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to upgrade drivers’ licenses in accordance with the REAL-ID Act of 2005. In response, the Obama administration recently announced that it would quietly drop the Act. In addition, thirteen States have passed legislation allowing State residents to use marijuana (Cannabis sativa) for medicinal purposes. (Tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, is a powerful antiemetic that, some say, can greatly alleviate the nausea that plagues patients who undergo chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer.) :::MORE HERE:::

For more information to start your own local group to stop Real ID,
visit 511Campaign.org . The 5-11 Campaign helps the individual
connect with local organizers who oppose the U.S. plan for a national
identity. For more information visit: 511Campaign.org or
contact : 511@511Campaign.org

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced the next phase in its CrewPASS program, paving the way for nationwide expansion. CrewPASS is an initiative that verifies flight crew identity through biometrics, enhancing security and expediting the screening process. :::MORE HERE:::

BTC – Say what you want about Dobbs, I don’t love his stuff but at least he will actually report on the SPP. Unfortunately, that makes it a “right wing” issue. Left ended folks can’t possibly have an opinion about the SPP and the dissolution of our currency, federal trade affairs and the national defecit, right? Let’s not insult each other’s intellects.

Finally, Campaign for Liberty and the 10th Amendment Center have decided to start singing that old Anti-Real ID song now that the Senate has left for recess. Great work guys. Why don’t you guys get out of the politcial theater business and demand a sendover of populist communication when someone other than 22 year old staffers can “field the concerns” about this issue and do something about it? I’m not interested in whatever else is on your political plate. Like Obama, you guys conveniently kicked the can down the road and look the other way when your own state lawmakers call Real ID “immigration”. The nation deserves better than to chase the slop you throw out when you “think” the masses can handle it. Don’t insult anyone else by declaring this a right-wing issue. Real ID won’t discriminate in political values as to who gets one of the government surveilled identity cards. WAKE UP!! I signed your document, because I hate Real ID, not because you guys are effective.

For more information to start your own local group to stop Real ID,
visit 511Campaign.org . The 5-11 Campaign helps the individual
connect with local organizers who oppose the U.S. plan for a national
identity. For more information visit: 511Campaign.org or
contact : 511@511Campaign.org